97 





gives a brilliant metallic surface. Hardness about 

 2 of Mohs' scale. 



In the open tube, be'ore the blowpipe flame, the 

 mineral fusts quietly, culoriog the glass a bright 

 yellow under tiie assay ; a white or gray sublimate 

 is deposited at a short distance from, or directly 

 over it, which, on being heated, fuses into transpa- 

 rent drops, resembling oil. On charcoal it fuses 

 readily to a leaden-colored globule, which, on cool- 

 ing, becomes, covered with little poiuts or dentrites 

 This globule flateas under Hie hammer, but breaks 

 on the edges. With the addition of a little carbon- 

 ate of soda, a globule oi' silver is readily obtained. 

 A tiagment heated to redness in a closed tube or mi 

 trass, with dry carbonate of soda and charcoal dust 

 gives, on the addition ot a few drops of b oiling wa- 

 ter, the beautiful v o ef I e I or purple Bolution des 

 cribed by Berzelius as cbarn* lenstic of tellurium.— 

 Tnis solution loses its color lifter standing for some 

 time, and a dark colored powder is deposited. The 

 mineral dissolves in hot n trie acid. With the separa- 

 tion of tellurous acid in crys 



It is probably the species Hessite, but the dec 

 is reserved until further examinations are made. Its 

 color is darker than the I'e-s te of Savodinsky, Si 

 beria, and is do! quite so hard 



Tuis very rare mineral has not hitherto been ob- 

 served in America, and it ■ oci urrenoe is therefore of 

 pt culiar interest. lam indebted to P. C. Currier, 

 E-q., of Georgetown, for the specimen It was ob 

 tained in that vicinity, and probably taken from the 

 auriferous drift ; but it cannot have been transported 

 f.ir from its original so 



The crystals give reactions for lead and sulphur 

 and a trace of selenium. They are probably galena, 

 but may contain tellurium. 



A specimen seen in California in 1854, weighing 

 about two ounces, greatly resembled the massive 

 part of the specimen above described, The email 

 fragment of it wb'ch was th^n obtained, also gives 

 the reactions for tellurium and silver. Its precise 

 locality is not known. 



The telluric silver of Sib< ria, according to Gustof 

 Rose, is composed, in 100 parts, of : 



Tellurium 3d 9G 



Silver 62.42 



Iron 0.24 



It is probable that tellurium combined with silver, 

 lead or bismuth, will be found in the auriferous 

 quartz of Grass Valley and other lucidities. A few 

 specimens in my possession contain small brilliant 

 grains resembling tetradymite, but their exact char- 

 acter is not yet determined. 

 January 1, 1857. 



A letter was read from M. Boisduval, siating that 

 Saturnia Ca/ijornicahiid been previously described 

 by him as S. eurya/us. 



The curators were authorized to send such dupli- 

 cates of specimens as are available, to the Society of 

 Natural History, at Stockton, Cal. 



San Francisco, March 30, 1857. 



President in the Chair. 



Prof. AsiGray, of C unbridgo, V, u . and Dr. John 

 Torry, of New York, were elected Honorary Mem- 

 bers. 



Dr. John Browne, of the U. S. steamer Active, Mr. 

 Geo. Gibbs, of Port Townstnd, M. Moreeahaut, of 

 Monterey, Capt,. Fauntleroy, Capt, Wilson and Dr. 



George Suckley. were elected Corresponding Mem- 

 bers. 



Donations to the Cabinet. 



From Capt. J. D. Brown, of the schooner Ada, 

 specimens of Reptiles. Fishes, Annelida and Crusta- 

 iora. the Gulf of California. 

 From Dr. Pigne" Dupuytren, a fine collection of 

 Marine Shells and a skull of Be/one, from New Cal- 

 edonia; also, a fabric made from the hair of the bat, 

 by the natives of those islands. 



From Dr. Welch, a skull of Diomedea chlororyn- 

 chos, and a skull of a native of the Sandwich Islands. 

 From Dr. C'zapkay, a large species of Patella. 

 Ficm Mr. Parent, two specimens of Chiton and a 

 Cidaris, from the Gallipagos Islands. 



From Mr. Ei. P. Wakelee, a suite of specimens from 

 Nicaragua, consisting of the capsule of Cocoa Bean, 

 scorpion, skin of a large serpent, (called by the na- 

 tive .- Bo-bo,) and Coal ; also, Copper smelted at the 

 La Miua del Padre, (Coliuia.) and Copper Ore from 

 La Mina Truxcanisco, (Coliraa) ; also, Solar Salt 

 from near Los Angeles, Cal. ; also Auriferous Quartz 

 from Kern river, and a shell of Echinus. 



From Mr. H. R Bloomer, a specimen of Eutainia 

 dorsalis, from San Francisco. 



Frum Barry & Patten, 8 specimen of Ornothoryn- 

 chus, from Australia. 



The thanks of the Academy were voted for the do- 

 nations above recorded. 



From Dr. Lanszweert, L'guite, from Sonoma. 

 From Dr. Bennett, a specimen of Gypsum, and one 



.live Alum, from Guaymaa. 

 From Capt. Russell, a hue specimen of Yucca, in 

 full bloom, from the Southern Coast ; also, two 

 young specimens of the same for cultivation; also, 

 several specimens of Mesembryanthemum. 



From Dr. Kellogg, a specimen of Scolopendra^ 

 lrom Monte Diatolo ; also, a box of seeds. 



From Dr. Ay res, a specimen of JLnarrhicthys 

 ocellatus, and one of Cebidichthys cristagalli, from 

 San Francisco Bay. 



From Mr. W II. Pease, of Honolulu, a fine suite 

 of specimens from the Sandwich Islands, consisting 

 of Crustacea, Land and Marine Shells, Ecliinoderms 



and Corals. . 



From Mr. Hepburn, Calcareous Travertine, from 



the Geysers. 



From Mr. Beardslee, a specimen of Trillium. 



From Dr. George Suckley, specimens of Mylilus, 

 from the Straits of Fuca. 



Fi oui Dr. Trask, a specimen of Nereis, thirty-three 

 inches in length, from San Francisco Bay; also, a 

 fish allied to Gunnellus, of apparently a new generic 

 type ; also, a quantity of the ripe fruit of the Coffee 

 Tree, from the Sandwich Islands. The curators 

 were' requested to distribute these seeds throughout 

 the Sta • foi the purpose of inducing their cultiva- 

 tion. 



